Tag Archive: Look Solutions Unique 2.1 Haze Machines

1. White Light Supplies Lighting for Holes UK Tour

   11 February 2020 09:59 Leave a Comment

   

   White Light has supplied the lighting equipment for Holes which is currently touring venues across the UK.  

   Presented by The Children’s Theatre Partnership, Holes is the creative new stage show based on the multi-award winning novel and Hollywood blockbuster. Adapted for the stage by the novel’s author Louis Sachar, the piece is set in a labour camp where a boy, Stanley, has to dig the same sized hole every day while a tyrannical warden looks on. The show features a lighting design by Prema Mehta and an associate lighting design by Guy Jones.

   Guy comments: “I have dual roles on this production as Associate Lighting Designer to Prema as well as Production Electrician, with my overall brief being to recreate the original lighting design in a touring format. Many of the tour moves are in and up in a day so one central aim has been to replicate the looks while ensuring the rig would be quick to install. Making a consistent standard achievable for every tour move was my main focus with regards to designing the rig itself. Another big consideration was that the entire show must tour in one trailer, so any toured LX had to occupy as little space as possible”.

   

   As the play is set in the Texan desert, this played a huge part in Prema’s design. Guy explains: “In terms of feel, Prema’s design uses strong colours on the cyc, with the heat of the desert being introduced with warm backlight. There are also many specials used for puppets and other specific whilst side light is also used a lot. I started with the kit list that Prema had used for the original Nottingham Playhouse production and worked closely with WL’s Senior Account Handler Jedd Hamilton to find fixtures that would be more suited to a touring production”.

   Vari-Lite VL1000/1100 AS and TS units featured strongly in the original rig and this was something that Guy chose to keep in the touring rig. He explains: “Whilst they are not the most modern units, I am personally very fond of the contrast between the AS and TS sources and they work to great effect in many moments of this production. For the cyc lighting, simple yet strong colours were required but I was also keen to keep weight and rigging time to a minimum. As such, Jedd suggested the Showline SL400 RGBW Battens which worked perfectly as they were very easy to rig and provided the exact colour palette needed.

   

   He continues: “For LED wash lights, we settled on a combination of ROBE 1200 and 800 LEDWash units. Once again, these are lightweight and provide all the colours required for the show, particularly strong blue hues working very well as well as being able to achieve the straw like colours and other lighter shades also required. Four ColourSource Units are used for gobo effects on the cyc and these work well, proving enough output and suitable colour rendering for the purpose. The sidelight is achieved with standard fixed angle Source Fours and the rest of the rig comes from venue stocks of Fresnels in the overheads and Profiles front of house. For spot effects and practicals, we have used birdies, Source Four Mini Profiles, LOOK Solutions Unique 2.1 Haze machines, along with a SHoW Baby 6 Wireless DMX system”.

   Holes has now opened and will tour venues across the UK until 30^th May 2020.

   Guy concludes: “I am extremely pleased with how the show looks and the touring rig is compact and effective. I always enjoy working with Jedd who’s extremely helpful in finding what fits the brief and budget from WL’s hire stock”. 

   Photos courtesy of Manuel Harlan.

2. What a Feeling as White Light Supplies Flashdance

   26 October 2017 08:15 Comments Off on What a Feeling as White Light Supplies Flashdance

   Based on the now iconic Paramount Pictures Film, Flashdance – The Musical tells the story of 18 year-old Alex who dreams of attending the prestigious Shipley Dance Academy and becoming a professional dancer. Yet when a romance complicates her ambitions, she harnesses this to drive her dream. The show is currently on a tour across the UK and White Light has provided the lighting equipment.

   Flashdance – The Musical is being produced by the award-winning Selladoor Productions and features a lighting design by Mark Howland. He comments: “Having never actually seen the film, this allowed me to approach the piece with a completely fresh perspective as though it were a new piece. The show is very rooted within 80s music so I was keen to push some of the bold 80s colours which are largely associated with the music videos and concerts of that time. We also keep a lot of the lighting rig in view”.

   

   By having the rig in constant view, this meant that it became a part of the aesthetic. Mark comments: “The boom towers worked well with the par cans making a strong feature at the side of the stage. These dance towers provided a powerful crosslight as well as being a strong visual feature in which we could frame the rest of the scenic design!”.

   Alongside his artistic approach, Mark was also conscious of ensuring that the rig he designed was tourable. He comments: “The rig has to remain manageable due to an extremely busy touring schedule. As a result, a number of moving lights were used to fulfil a range of roles. All of the overheads are moving lights. We used a number of Martin MAC IIIs as their punch and wide zoom range gave me strong gobo and toplight options. The fact that they’re so powerful also meant that we didn’t require a large number of fixtures.

   He adds: “We also draw quite heavily on the Martin MAC 700 range which are small enough to fit in the dance towers yet also quite powerful and work well for general colour washes as well as specials”.

   Mark also utilised the Chroma-Q Color Force LED Battens, ADB Fresnels and Look Solutions Unique 2.1 Haze Machines.

   The show is currently at the Blackpool Opera House and will tour the rest of the UK until August 2018.

   Mark adds: “The beauty of lighting a musical is the variety of different aesthetics that you can apply across one show. Whilst there is always a need to adhere to an overall design style that works with the whole team, there is often such a variety of styles and emotions within the songs that can really push the strong and varied choices in the way each one is lit – something I was able to achieve with Flashdance – The Musical”.

   Photos courtesy of Brian Hartley.